New York City Mayor Adams, who is facing federal charges of corruption, only raised around $146,000 in campaign funds last quarter, marking his lowest fundraising amount to date. Since being indicted last month, he has received almost no donations.
According to records from the New York City Campaign Finance Board, Adams’ re-election campaign has only raised $146,151 in campaign funds since July this year, a significant decrease compared to the $1.1 million raised in the first six months of the year. Since Adams was indicted on September 26, he has only received a single donation of $250. amNY reported that Adams’ campaign manager, Vito Pitta, claimed that Adams actually raised $190,000 last quarter, with the discrepancies in the numbers reported by the Campaign Finance Board attributed to corrections made to previous filings.
Despite the sharp drop in fundraising for Adams since July, he had already raised over $4 million for his re-election campaign before being indicted, including approximately $500,000 in small donations that qualify for an 8x match in public matching funds, adding another $4 million to his campaign coffers. However, one of the scandals Adams is embroiled in involves illegal “straw donations” during his 2021 campaign, which could lead to the loss of matching funds. The Campaign Finance Board will review this matter on December 16 to decide whether to withhold the matching funds.
Campaign Finance Board Chairman Frederick Schaffer told the New York Post that while Adams is presumed innocent until proven guilty, the board will examine all relevant information, not just the indictment, to uphold the city’s campaign finance regulations and safeguard taxpayers’ hard-earned money. When asked about the possibility of losing matching funds during his weekly press conference on October 15, Adams said he is prepared to “adjust and adapt,” stating that he always rises to challenges proactively.
As for other Democratic candidates eyeing the mayoral race, the fundraising numbers for the last quarter are as follows: City Comptroller Brad Lander raised $317,980; former City Comptroller Scott Stringer raised $185,540; State Senator Zellnor Myrie raised $147,389; and State Senator Jessica Ramos, who entered the race just a month ago, has raised $52,512. Lander, with the highest fundraising amount, is projected to have a total of $4.5 million with matching funds, but still falls short of Adams.